


eddie gets grindr

by BookRockShooter



Category: IT (2017), IT (2019), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adult Eddie Kaspbrak, Adult Richie Tozier, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Based on a Tumblr Post, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Fluff and Angst, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Grindr, M/M, also idk how grindr works apologies sksks, and a gay disaster, kinda fluffy kinda angsty yknow, kinda??, my post to be exact skjdskd, not particularly myra kaspbrak friendly oops, they rediscover each other on grindr prior to ch2 events
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 19:23:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20278516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookRockShooter/pseuds/BookRockShooter
Summary: I shouldn’t be doing this,Eddie thinks as he opens his phone.Is this technically illegal?he thinks as he clicks the app store icon.Well, it’s definitely fucking wrong either way,he thinks as he types grindr into the search bar.-Eddie downloads grindr and rediscovers an old friend - and crush - on it.





	eddie gets grindr

**Author's Note:**

> fuck titles
> 
> so anyway i made a tumblr post abt richie and eddie reuniting on grindr that a lot of people liked for some reason and wanted a fic for so i thought "fuck it" and wrote this in a few hours SKSJDKS
> 
> it's pretty crack-y and like slightly angsty in that eddie is freaking out about downloading grindr but it has a pretty open ending that i might come back to and add more but we'll see sksksk i mainly just wanted to get this posted on both my accs so yeah
> 
> so yeah sksks enjoy!!

_I shouldn’t be doing this,_ Eddie thinks as he opens his phone.

_Is this technically illegal?_ he thinks as he clicks the app store icon.

_Well, it’s definitely fucking wrong either way,_ he thinks as he types grindr into the search bar.

He doesn’t fully register what he’s done until he’s already clicked install and gets the little notification that cheerfully announces the completed download of his brand-new app. The little black and orange icon looks fucking accusatory, like it knows very well that he’s a very much _not_ single and also closeted gay man who should definitely have better morals than this. He stares at it, contemplating deleting it and even going so far as to get a whole new fuckin’ phone because _what if Myra found out?_ He’d be ruined, absolutely _ruined_ because she’d probably (definitely) tell everyone within their very small social circle and then his mother would find out and he’d probably be forced to quit his job lest the company found out and then Myra would kick him out of the apartment that he’s paying for and he’d probably oblige because he can’t fight back for shit and then he’d be forced to live in the streets and become homeless and – 

He opens the app and starts to set up his profile.

Jesus Christ.

Filling in his name and preferences isn’t hard; he types in _Eddie Kaspbrak_ and makes it clear that he’s a very gay man who’s only interested in other men, thank you. Then he sighs and rubs his shaky hands together, squinting down at the screen and wondering how, exactly, one takes a selfie when signing up for a gay dating app.

If it wasn’t already obvious, he’s not used to this. He’s known he’s gay for most of his life, now; his childhood is hazy at best, but he has vague memories of crushing on a boy or two he attended school with. Knowing his sexuality isn’t the hard part, no; it’s the fact that he’s currently in a (frankly awful) relationship with a woman who he’s very much not attracted to, because. Well. He’s gay.

God, why is he doing this? What is he hoping for? To find his perfect someone that’ll give him the excuse to leave Myra since he’s too cowardly to just do it himself? To maybe find somebody to hook up with to just make sure he’s gay and not, like, imagining things? To just get a feel for the gay life?

He doesn’t even know, jesus.

Whatever. He’ll at least finish up his profile for now; he can figure out the rest later, at night, when he can’t sleep because nothing goes right for him, ever.

Except job-wise. He’s pretty well-off there. But emotionally? Mentally? Fuck that.

After a quick glance into the few rooms their apartment holds, he determines that Myra’s not home yet and settles into his chair, situating himself so that he’s in what he thinks might be perfect lighting. He’s not sure. Photography’s never been his strong suit, let alone taking fucking _selfies._

He holds his phone up in front of his face, wincing at just how fucking _awkward_ he looks. “It’s fine,” he mumbles to himself, “nobody’ll match with me anyway, probably, so who cares?”

He cares. He cares way too much about this.

He takes a few experimental pictures of his face, determines that maybe he’s not fucking disgusting at least today, and takes one more quick one where his smile is small and nervous, but not too bad. It’s his normal smile, actually, so he sighs and selects that one as his one and only photo reference. Is that suspicious? Will people think he’s a catfish? Fuck, literally no one will match with him at this rate.

The rest of his profile set-up takes only a few more minutes. When he’s finally allowed to look through fellow men-attracted men and swipe the ones he’s interested in, he notices that he didn’t specifically select men in his area and sees that a lot of the options are _not_ from New York. He starts to groan and then pauses, thinking, _Hey, if they’re not in my area, there’s no reason to meet up! We can just… text. Sexily. Sext, right. Yeah._

He really signed up on a gay dating app.

He might be panicking.

No, no, he’s fine, he’s fine, nobody in his life knows and he’s fine. _Just focus on the attractive men,_ he thinks to himself, letting out a choked laugh. Jesus. Okay.

Finally, after taking a few hits from his inhaler that he doesn’t really need but still uses anyway, he rubs his eyes and goes back to the app, absently flicking through some profiles that mildly interest him due to the fact that they’re all men, but it doesn’t go beyond that. None of them really stand out, and he’s starting to think this was a stupid idea just as he swipes to another profile and just – stops, because the guy whose picture he’s staring at is attractive in a dorky way and also vaguely, awfully familiar and he can’t figure out why.

The guy is cute, yeah. He shares a faint resemblance to some actor Eddie’s, like, eighty percent he’s driven before but can’t really remember. His hair is dark and a little wild, and he’s wearing thick glasses in some of his photos that Eddie absently thinks look really good on him, actually. He lives in California, according to his profile, but he’d added that he travels a lot, mostly to New York (which Eddie notes with some relief). He’s bisexual, is apparently a comedian according to the three (3) separate times he’s listed so in his bio, and honestly sounds genuinely nice. And still looks so _familiar._

Eddie’s gaze jumps to the guy’s name, and he actually chokes on his next breath because the guy’s name is listed as fucking _Richie Tozier_, and Eddie thinks faintly, _so that’s why he’s so familiar, jesus fuck._

It’s slow going, but the longer he stares at the name, the more the veil that’s rested over his childhood memories for so long starts to lift, and he can remember, now, a fuck ton of just Richie – reading comics with him, chilling in the quarry with him, biking around town with him, and – 

And.

Having a huge fucking crush on him.

God, what the fuck even is life right now.

Without really thinking it through, he swipes on Richie’s profile, making it known that he, Eddie Kaspbrak, is in fact interested to some degree, and then promptly screams and chucks his phone across the room. It lands on the floor before it actually hits the wall, thank fuck, and lays screen-up while Eddie stares at it in mute horror.

Did he – did he really just do that. Did he really.

Maybe he’s dreaming. Or having a nightmare, which sounds far more likely considering how terrified he is right now. He takes another hit from his inhaler and slides out of his chair and onto the floor, never taking his eyes off the phone.

After what feels like an eternity and then some, his phone vibrates and lights up, and even from several feet away he can clearly make out the somehow-even-more-accusatory-than-earlier grindr icon. Maybe it’s the app uninstalling itself because he’s clearly not ready for it.

He crawls across the floor and snatches his phone up, swiping it open faster than he normally would.

It’s a notification announcing that he’s had his first match. And, though he’s not sure whether he should be relieved or not quite yet, it’s Richie Tozier.

Another notification comes through. Eddie quickly skims it and freezes because Richie’s sent him a message, on a gay dating app, after they haven’t seen each other since they were teenagers. What the fuck.

Drawing in a quick breath and then immediately coughing it back up, he opens up grindr and swipes to view his grand total of one new message from none other than fucking Richie. He has no idea what to expect, so he just takes another quick look around the house to fully assure that he’s alone before he opens the chat, holding his breath in fear and maybe a little anticipation.

_Richie: haha is it just me or do u look REALLY familiar man_

Eddie releases his breath in a whoosh and blinks, not sure if he should be offended or not that Richie hasn’t made the connection yet.

Well. At least he knows he looks familiar. That’s a start.

_Eddie: haha yeah you look familiar too_

_Eddie: wait were you trying to do a pick-up line or something_

“Oh my god,” Eddie groans, dragging a hand down his face. He’s a fucking disaster. Richie doesn’t recognize him and now he’s going to think Eddie is a fucking weirdo and just outright block him and Eddie will delete the app due to humiliation and be stuck in this horrible relationship and – 

_Richie: no no i rly mean it like_

_Richie: i feel like ik u_

Oh. Okay. That’s good, then. There’s still a sliver of a chance that Richie will know who he is without Eddie having to actually say it because he’s not sure he can bring himself to do so quite yet.

His phone vibrates with another message and he refocuses on the open chat.

_Richie: wait a fucking minute i dO KNOW U_

_Richie: EDDIE FUCKIGN KASPBRAK??????_

“My god,” Eddie says, “he does remember. Okay. Okay.” Then, hissing it under his breath, he adds, “_Fuck._”

_Eddie: oh shit you do remember me_

_Richie: HOW COULD I NOT_

_Richie: idk why i ever 4got u tho wtf_

_Richie: i mean i 4got alot but i didnt think u’d be someone i’d 4get_

_Eddie: why do you type like that_

_Richie: why r u on a dating app for gay ppl_

“Fucking christ,” Eddie says to himself.

_Eddie: do you want the short answer or the long answer_

_Richie: i hope u realize how wrong that sounds_

_Richie: but the long answer ofc we havent spoken in fucking years man_

Eddie turns his phone off and covers his face with his hands, breathing deeply to try and stay calm because _fuck_, he’s talking to his childhood crush after practically forgetting him and it’s just a lot to handle at once, _okay._

Now, how to go about this – should Eddie be completely honest and tell him the whole fucking deal where he’s closeted and in a loveless relationship and is just generally unhappy as fuck for those exact reasons, or lie and say he just wanted to fucking, what, meet other gay men, despite how sad that sounded?

Fuck.

_Eddie: I’ve been in the closet for years and I’m dating a woman who I don’t love and I’m just generally unhappy with my life because of those reasons_

_Richie: shit okay_

_Richie: i mean I kinda figured u were gay but im sorry about the rest of that stuff_

_Richie: but hey congrats on discovering the wonders of gay dating apps B)_

_Eddie: oh my god why did i ever like you_

_Richie: u_

_Richie: WHAT_

It takes Eddie exactly three seconds to realize what he’s said before he screams again and tosses his phone up onto the couch, where it starts buzzing incessantly.

What the fuck was he thinking? Eddie isn’t usually an open person, but it seems that Richie Tozier can change that just by being someone Eddie remembers loving a little too much a lifetime ago. Jesus. If he’s dreaming, Eddie kind of wants to wake up now just so he doesn’t have to deal with the fallout of their newly rediscovered friendship all because he stupidly admitted to liking him with literally no prompting.

Eddie leans his head into the couch cushion and mumbles, “I am a human disaster. Why am I alive.” Then he picks his phone up, winces at the 10+ notification bar, and opens the grindr chat back up.

_Richie: u liked me_

_Richie: what_

_Richie: how_

_Richie: no no WHY_

_Richie: bc i liked u?? so this makes no sense_

_Richie: oh my god_

_Richie: ok so ur not reading these yet thats okay_

_Richie: anyway yeah like_

_Richie: ik we havent spoken in like 20 smth years but_

_Richie: i remember everything abt u from when we were kids_

_Richie: it says u live in ny & im going there soon_

_Richie: can we meet up eds_

_Richie: please_

_Richie: i miss u_

The chat takes up the entire phone screen so Eddie’s left staring at and rereading the words “i miss u” more time than he’d like to admit. It’s happening way faster than he could’ve imagined it would, but fuck it, it’s Richie fucking Tozier, Eddie’s childhood best friend and crush and maybe a present-time something more if things work out, so he takes a hit of his inhaler again and types out a response.

_Eddie: of course we can you fucking idiot_

_Richie: :D_

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah here's A Thing skdksd
> 
> i'll probably write more for this anyway but for now i quite like what i have So Yeah
> 
> also even tho im not the biggest fan of myra i dont like the idea of eddie cheating on her even for richie so lets assume that he finally manages to break up with her before seeing richie again bc you Know eddie and richie get together ofc so Yeah
> 
> anyway!! hopefully y'all enjoyed sksks uwu
> 
> you can find me on tumblr @bookrockshooter to see me yell about reddie and various other things if you so desire, and please have a good day/night! <3


End file.
